More Questions: DEN to ORL

[snljamie0518]

My husband Louis & I will be leaving in 11 days & counting from Denver to Orlando. We are very excited & anxious for our trip. Yes, there will be a trip report.

We will be riding in coach in the lower level since my husband is in a power chair. He is wondering if he is allowed to take his shoes off on the train? He also wants to know if the cafe cars will have something to carry the food & drinks back to our car? He is hoping that someone will be able to help get the food/drinks for us as I have bad knees to be climbing steps.

I will be using my cpap machine at night if possible. It doesn't make any noise. Has anyone used their cpap on the train?

I have been watching YouTube videos of trips from a person with a soothing voice who travels a lot. He goes by the name Youtuuba. Has anyone met him? If he is on this forum please speak up. My husband & I would love to meet him.

Speaking of meeting, we would love to meet other rail fans/passengers too. We will be riding the California Zephyr, Capital Limited & Silver Star. We will have a four hour layover in Chicago & a two hour layover in DC [if the train is on time].

If we choose to leave the Chicago station to eat, where are the best places to eat that are close to the station? It should be super cold by then I'm sure. Will the river be frozen by then?

We will probably miss the fall foliage. Am I right?

I heard that the trains have changed from Pepsi to Coke. Are they in bottles or in cans? I am allergic to aluminum so I prefer bottles but will drink from a can by pouring the soda into a cup if I must.

I have a friend who works for AMTRAK on the West coast. Has anyone heard about or met a guy by the name of Landon?

I may have more questions later.

 

[dogbert617]

I'll try to answer those questions you posted that I'm knowledgeable about, from my memories of past Amtrak trips over the years. I'll leave the cpap question to someone else to answer, since I haven't used such a device myself. And also the question about Landon working out of one of the west coast Amtrak crew bases, since I hadn't met such an employee on my past Amtrak trips on western long distance trains myself. I have no doubt he probably works somewhere on Amtrak, but not sure for which trains he typically is assigned to!

We will be riding in coach in the lower level since my husband is in a power chair. He is wondering if he is allowed to take his shoes off on the train? He also wants to know if the cafe cars will have something to carry the food & drinks back to our car? He is hoping that someone will be able to help get the food/drinks for us as I have bad knees to be climbing steps.

Yes, in the cafe car area(lower level of the observation car/sightseer lounge) you can get a paper/cardboard holder for drinks and food to go, when you order food and/or drinks there. As for the stairs thing, yes that is the unfortunate thing about the way the Superliner cars are set up, as today the cafe car food/drink ordering area is today sadly ONLY on the lower level. I remember a time when I was much younger(we're talking late 1990s here), when Amtrak even staffed the upper level bar area and you could order drinks there. Sadly, Amtrak discontinued drink service up there years ago, even well before Richard Anderson became Amtrak's CEO and started doing all the cost cutting he's been known for.

I do wonder if any of your fellow passengers sitting near you nearby may be voluntarily nice for some reason, and order certain food/drinks you want out of the cafe car to deliver those back to your seat? You could look up the prices of food/drinks there, ask a fellow passenger to order some food/drinks for you over in the cafe car, and bring those back to you? Since sadly to say, I wouldn't hold my breath that coach car attendants would do that for you, due to the fact they're so busy handling where passengers sit down after they board, and making sure people properly board and depart the train in a prompt matter at each station. Ditto with yelling 'all aboard' and getting the attention of passengers to successfully reboard the train, at any smoke/stretch stops along the route.

The weird thing, is that I'm not sure if other fellow passengers would volunteer to do that. Hopefully some other fellow passenger would, since I agree if you were older that going up and down those curving and narrow stairs on Superliner cars could be a PITA, for sure!

I have been watching YouTube videos of trips from a person with a soothing voice who travels a lot. He goes by the name Youtuuba. Has anyone met him? If he is on this forum please speak up. My husband & I would love to meet him.

I have never met Youtuuba, but I LOVE his videos! Would love to meet him in person, if I ever got such an opportunity someday. As for him posting on this board, unfortunately I don't think so. Maybe another poster here could confirm, if he's ever posted on this board here?

Speaking of meeting, we would love to meet other rail fans/passengers too. We will be riding the California Zephyr, Capital Limited & Silver Star. We will have a four hour layover in Chicago & a two hour layover in DC [if the train is on time].

If we choose to leave the Chicago station to eat, where are the best places to eat that are close to the station? It should be super cold by then I'm sure. Will the river be frozen by then?

We will probably miss the fall foliage. Am I right?

The only bad thing about the California Zephyr(as much as that train for sure is LOVELY), is that it doesn't run on time as much as other western long distance trains running eastbound into Chicago Union Station. Just check a year(which is what I chose to do, you can search as little or as many dates as you want to here) back of data on Juckins, and you'll see what I mean. The data on this link says it all, here: https://juckins.net/amtrak_status/archive/html/history.php?train_num=6&station=chi&date_start=01/01/2019&date_end=11/20/2019&df1=1&df2=1&df3=1&df4=1&df5=1&df6=1&df7=1&sort=schAr&sort_dir=DESC&co=gt&limit_mins=&dfon=1

I'd say if you're looking for a close nearby place to eat just outside Chicago Union Station, Dylan's Tavern and Grill on Clinton Street north of Adams, would probably work. Also to the north of that same block, would be sandwich place Hannah's Bretzel. One block north on Clinton there also are a few places you could eat there, including Blackwood BBQ, Blaze Pizza, and Five Guys. If it doesn't work to walk outside the CUS building due to CA Zephyr train #6 being late, I'd probably go to Jersey Mike's out of all the(and in my opinion, too many of the eating options there are mediocre) choices to eat there. Though if by some chance you wanted a Chicago style hot dog(though that isn't so much what I seek when I'm eating in most cases, lol), that food court also has Gold Coast Dogs within here.

To answer your other weather questions: no, the Chicago River usually will not start to ice over by late November/early December. If you want to see that, you'd more want to come in like Janurary or February, when the temperatures are even colder! Also when your train arrives in Chicago(if it'll be approximately on November 30th/December 1st?), usually the norm for Chicago weather temperatures is that the temperatures don't get any colder than the lows being in the upper to mid 20s. To be honest, usually the weather doesn't get annoyingly cold till after Christmas Day. And some winters too we've gotten lucky in Chicago, and we didn't get very cold temperatures till after New Year's Day. You really never know with late fall/early winter weather, how very bad or even not(where it sometimes can be weirdly above average for this time of year), weather can be!

I heard that the trains have changed from Pepsi to Coke. Are they in bottles or in cans? I am allergic to aluminum so I prefer bottles but will drink from a can by pouring the soda into a cup if I must.

On Amtrak trains, usually the sodas are in cans, and the other tea/juice drinks like Lipton tea(though with the Coke switchover, it may now be Gold Leaf) are in bottles. This btw applies for BOTH the dining car, and also the cafe car on the lower level of Superliner observation cars. Ditto with when you ride the Star(-vation, lol as even before the recent dining car downgrades into contemporary/flex dining by Anderson, it sadly hadn't had a dining car in years), as well.

Hope you have a great trip, to Orlando!

 

[ehbowen]

You can take shoes off in your seating area (although nearby passengers may object!), but you are supposed to wear shoes any time you are moving about the train...including going to the restrooms. (Depending on how diligent your coach attendant is, you will probably WANT shoes when going to the restroom!)

Your coach attendant is supposed to make your cafe car purchases for you and carry them back to you at your seat upon request (and, of course, dining car meals as well). This is in fact the case for able-bodied passengers also, but doubly so for those with a mobility handicap...quadruply so if they are in a wheelchair. For cheerful service a gratuity is appropriate; if your car attendant "ghosts" then a strongly worded letter of complaint to customer relations is appropriate. (If you let the Conductor know you're being ghosted and planning to write a letter of complaint, he/she will very probably address the issue right then and there. Conductors are to trains what captains are to ships.) As dogbert notes, other passengers are often helpful in this kind of situation as well; a kind word of thanks and perhaps a "keep the change" might be in order there too.

I use a CPAP machine as well, but so far only in sleeper. It will plug right into the power outlet at every coach seat and doesn't draw near enough power to be a breaker-tripping issue, so I wouldn't anticipate any problems at all.

It's been long enough since I've laid over in Chicago that I'll pass on any Chicago-specific questions in favor of members from that area of the country.

 

[pennyk]

I agree that your coach attendant should be willing to get food for you from the cafe car or dining car (on the California Zephyr). In addition to providing the attendant with cash to pay for your food, you should appropriately tip the attendant. If you are on the lower level coach, the passengers sitting near you may also have disabilities preventing them from walking up and down stairs. When boarding, I would alert your attendant to the fact that you would like him or her to get you food from the cafe car later in the trip (when they have time). The attendants are busy during station stops and likely would not be able to bring you food at that time (even though it is easier to walk through the train). Also keep in mind that the cafe attendants take "breaks" during the day and the cafe car will be closed. They usually make announcements to that effect, but sometimes not all passengers hear those announcements. My timing is routinely very bad with regard to cafe car attendants' breaks.

When soft drinks are purchased from the cafe car, a plastic cup with ice is usually provided. If not, ask the attendant for a cup.

I would not plan on leaving either station during your layover, since it is likely the layover will not be as long as scheduled. During my last trip on trains 422, 30 and 97, the connection was missed in Chicago from 422 to 30 and passengers were put up overnight in Chicago. Train 30 (Capitol Limited) was late into WAS and those passengers booked on train 91 (Silver Star) missed their connections and were rebooked on train 97. Bottom line: your connections are fairly tight and you may not have any time to venture very far.

I hope your trip goes smoothly.

 

[dogbert617]

You can take shoes off in your seating area (although nearby passengers may object!), but you are supposed to wear shoes any time you are moving about the train...including going to the restrooms. (Depending on how diligent your coach attendant is, you will probably WANT shoes when going to the restroom!)

Your coach attendant is supposed to make your cafe car purchases for you and carry them back to you at your seat upon request (and, of course, dining car meals as well). This is in fact the case for able-bodied passengers also, but doubly so for those with a mobility handicap...quadruply so if they are in a wheelchair. For cheerful service a gratuity is appropriate; if your car attendant "ghosts" then a strongly worded letter of complaint to customer relations is appropriate. (If you let the Conductor know you're being ghosted and planning to write a letter of complaint, he/she will very probably address the issue right then and there. Conductors are to trains what captains are to ships.) As dogbert notes, other passengers are often helpful in this kind of situation as well; a kind word of thanks and perhaps a "keep the change" might be in order there too.

I use a CPAP machine as well, but so far only in sleeper. It will plug right into the power outlet at every coach seat and doesn't draw near enough power to be a breaker-tripping issue, so I wouldn't anticipate any problems at all.

It's been long enough since I've laid over in Chicago that I'll pass on any Chicago-specific questions in favor of members from that area of the country.

Thanks for answering the question about CPAP machines(which I thought was permitted, but I wasn't sure), and about shoes. I think I did weirdly forget to answer the part, about whether you could take shoes off while in your seat! Not sure why I forgot to answer that question, but somehow I did. Yes from my previous trips, Amtrak coach car attendants won't care if you take off your shoes while you're sitting at your seat. And yes, that is permitted. However though, BE SURE to wear shoes if you're walking over to the bathroom, or crossing to another train car on the train.

Also, thanks for clearing that up that coach car attendants can deliver food to those sitting in the lower level of Superliner cars from the cafe car, who do have a disability and can't walk very well. However with how occasionally very crowded Amtrak trains sometimes can get(especially the #7/27 I rode west to Glacier National Park, where it was ALL but sold out west to Glacier National Park, and the coach car attendants did the VERY RARE thing of assigning coach passengers to sit at the tables at one end of the sightseer lounge!), and how much coach car attendants can get busy with their jobs and (I worry) forget to check on those in downstairs areas, I think there would be times I'd ask a fellow passenger heading to the sightseer lounge to go downstairs to buy cafe car food/drinks for a fellow passenger. And like ehbowen said, may try to do a courtesy to that other passenger like say 'keep the change', if there wasn't a lot of change.

 

[Barb Stout]

I'm thinking if you're going to be on the lower level, then there won't be steps to climb to get to the cafe car. And if there are, I have heard that Amtrak employees definitely treat folks with disabilities (or at least visible disabilities) pretty well in terms of taking care of things like that, so I think you'll be ok in that regard.

On one of my recent trips, there was a person across the aisle from me in coach who used a CPAP. I don't believe she encountered any issues with that.

 

[Barb Stout]

But wait, I may have to scratch my last post. A lot of the lower cars are dead ends where you can't go to the next one without going to the upper level, I think. So now I'm not sure how many are that way or if all are that way. I'm sorry to give false information and assurances.

 

[ehbowen]

For essentially all of the Superliners, the only car-to-car access is on the upper level. The lower level car ends are taken up with mechanical equipment. There are transition cars which allow Superliners to operate with single-level cars, but again the only access is via stairs to the upper level of the Superliner.

 

[RSG]

To the OP:

Yes, you will likely miss most of the foliage changes, though you can check out the predictions here (click on the date on the far right of the screen for the current time frame):https://smokymountains.com/fall-foliage-map/.
Keep in mind that the weather has been unusually cold and early in much of the country, as it has in the Rocky Mountains, and thus many of the trees across the country have shed their leaves rather quickly.

There are several threads here regarding food and other options in Chicago, including this one: https://discuss.amtraktrains.com/posts/824599/. I would second pennyk's advice about not venturing too far from the station as it relates to likely tight connections.

But there are other issues around Chicago Union Station that first time visitors should be aware of. One, there are no sweeping plazas like in Denver and Washington and most entrances are flush with the sidewalks, which are busy with not only people taking a smoke break, but attempting to enter & exit and just hanging around for various reasons. This makes even going outside for a fresh air break a bit of a hassle. Along with that, the inside of CUS is a busy, bustling place. Other than the Great Hall, navigating the inside of the station can be trying at times for those who aren't mobility-challenged. There are ramps and elevators, but these are often busy and crowded themselves. The elevator in the Metropolitan Lounge is almost always available, but the street entrance is closed to outside traffic which means exiting the station will need to be accomplished through the usually busy elevators in the station itself.

Outside the station presents additional challenges, as many of the sidewalks are uneven, which makes travel via anything with wheels a bit tricky. Even the curb cuts may not be flush with the pavement or sidewalk. Some sidewalks are narrower than others and either less or more frequently traveled than others. Unless you are aware of the traffic patterns, this makes getting from Point A to Point B potentially more complicated than it should be. This is even more true for those using mobility and assistive devices.

You will read many, many comments about the human element as it relates to customer service at Chicago Union Station. Very few are exaggerating about their experience. Nonetheless, you are entitled to the assistance you need, so speak up if necessary in a polite but firm manner. As has been said, most will be helpful and responsive, but there is a tendency to treat fully ambulatory passengers like cats or unruly cattle which need to be herded into a particular area or direction, so don't feel too bad if you might be treated in a manner which is meant to be helpful but is actually condescending.

Enjoy your trip, and keep asking those questions---everyone here was once where you are at today.

 

[Qapla]

I should mention that, when you get to Orlando, the trees do not really change colors all that much in Florida ... so, yes, you will miss it here.

Once you get on the Silver Service going to Florida - you will be in a single level car so there are no steps to get to the cafe car ... but the train still rocks a bit when you are walking.

Do you know what day you will be getting to Orlando?

 

[drdumont]

At the risk of appearing to be Miss Mary Sunshine, I have always observed Amtrak employees to be incredibly obliging to (and here I may sound out of date, but I am...) Handicapped persons, those with other disabilities, elderly or just confused about the process..
In over 50 years of riding trains, there was only one SCA who I ever observed to be indifferent or downright uncaring or uncooperative. And I don't think Pat is with AMTRAK any more.
I would start by getting in touch with AMTRAK, explain your concerns and see where that leads.
If your station is manned, nip down there, introduce yourself to the Station Agent and see where it goes.

 

[BoulderCO]

It has been some time since your scheduled trip, snljamie, and I'm wondering how it went. Probably others here are also curious.

As I recall, it was to be some sort of permanent relocation for you and your husband. If so, I can certainly understand how you might not have had time yet to do a detailed trip report. But would be good to know if you were successful in reaching Florida. Hope so!!